PS2

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Role-playing (RPG)StrategyAdventure

Time to beat: about 72.5 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is a 2004 role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan in November 2004, followed by North America in November 2005 and PAL regions in April 2006. It is the eighth installment of the Dragon Quest series and it is the first English version of a Dragon Quest game to drop the Dragon Warrior title. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan in 2013 and worldwide in 2014, with a version for Nintendo 3DS releasing later in 2015 in Japan and 2017 globally.

Dragon Quest VIII uses cel shading for the characters and scenery and is the first game in the series to have fully 3D environments and character models. The game retains most of the series' role-playing game elements, such as turn-based combat and the experience level system. Dragon Quest VIII follows the silent protagonist and his party of allies as they journey towards the goal of defeating the wicked Dhoulmagus, who cursed the kingdom of Trodain and its people. Dragon Quest VIII was a critical and commercial success, and has appeared on various best-of video game lists.